Sea shells on the sea shore

One of the many blogs that I read is written by ANN.  I met John and Ann this summer while I was staying at Red Rock RV Park in Idaho.  They are spending the winter near Rockport, TX, and recently found a beach down there with a mother lode of sea shells.  When I read her post this afternoon, it brought back memories of the last time I had the joy of walking an ocean beach looking for shells.

It was back in the summer of 2007, and I was volunteering at Pea Island NWR and Alligator River NWR.

What a summer that was!  This was the view of the Atlantic right out my front window.  Pea Island is located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  I spent a little over a month living on the shore.

This was a display in the Visitor’s Center, but it truly depicts the sea turtle nest hatchlings ‘boiling’ to the surface of the beach.

Volunteers would monitor each nest and construct a runway for the hatchlings to reach the ocean.  We would arrive at the nest at 7:00 at night and stay until midnight.  These sea turtles always hatch at night and need to be protected from the ghost crabs that will kill them all before they reach the water.  If you’re lucky enough to be there on a night that the eggs hatch, you have to literally beat the crabs off with a stick!  One of the nights that I was on watch, an entire nest hatched.  It was an exhilarating experience to insure that all little turtles made it to the sea.

On a different day, I helped band 500 young brown pelicans on an island off the coast.  The young pelicans were not real happy about this, and showed their disdain by emitting foul substances from both ends!  Those big pouches that they have feel like the softest kid glove leather.

After a month or so, I moved over to sister refuge, Alligator River, and had other creatures to contend with.  This mother black bear with three cubs came into the RV pads when we neglected to make sure the electric fence was turned on one day at lunch time.  We never forgot again.  :)

 

I know some of you may remember some of these pics from when I did my Sunday Blast from the Past posts about a year and a half ago, but then again maybe you don’t.  :)  Anyway,  ANN talking about collecting shells took me mentally back to that time on Pea Island.

 

It was cold and rainy and windy when I drove in to open the VIS this morning.  Absolutely no one was visiting, and who could blame them?  The wind out of the east kept getting stronger and stronger, and I began to worry about my slide toppers back at the rig.  Then the electricity went out!  I was plunged into darkness, and no way to heat the VIS shed.  I waited almost an hour, and then decided to close up and head for home. 

 

For a minute, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get all the way into the rig.  Once I pried the door open, it flew open and I was stuck in the doorway trying to hang onto the door, and get it closed with my computer backpack wedged against the side of the door frame.  Time seemed to stand still as I struggled to get the door shut against the wind, and Emma kept trying to lick my face!  Ugh! 

 

I did finally get it closed, and then I tried to get the slide outs in.  The bedroom slide came in easily, but the big living room slide would only come partially in.  I tried three times.  Ugh, again!  Okay, so I took a big breathe and waited for what I thought was a slight lull in wind.  The fourth try worked, thank goodness.  It’s not unusual for it to be windy in Texas, but today was ridiculous!! 

 

Thanks for stopping by…. talk to you later,  Judy